A Christmas Wish
by Rosiek79
Summary: It's Christmas time in Honolulu and Danny gets some great news, followed closely by some not so great news.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0 or any of the characters.**

**A/N 1: This is just another fluff story. No action, just a little Christmas story about our two favourite guys. This sort of follows on from Ice but it's not absolutely necessary to have read it but sure if you're at a loose end…!**

**A/N 2: This is a two shot; I'll put the second chapter up on Tuesday, just in time for Santa. This is dedicated to all those of you who have taken the time to review, follow and favour my other stories. Mahalo and Mele Kalikimaka!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

"Danno?"

"Yes Gracie?"

"Mom said to tell you that you're to come into the house when you drop me home later. She wants to talk to you about something."

"What?" Danny asked. The plan for Christmas had been that Grace would spend Christmas Eve with him and that he would drop her back to Rachel by 10a.m. on Christmas Day. She better not be going to change her mind. He had lots of plans made, they would decorate the tiny artificial tree he had bought the previous year, they would watch a Christmas movie, make cookies, drink hot chocolate and Grace would be allowed stay up until midnight. It was going to be great, just the two of them. Then Steve had invited them over for breakfast on Christmas Day. And now he was sure Rachel was going to spoil it all with some damn trip somewhere with Step-Stan.

"I don't know. She just said she wanted to talk to you. Can we ring Uncle Steve and see does he want to come to the mall with us?" Grace pleaded.

"I don't think our SuperSEAL would have any interest in going shopping with us now," Danny replied.

"Well you won't know if you don't ask," Grace said. Taking out her own phone before Danny could do anything, she had Steve's number dialled immediately. Well he was on speed dial 3 and lot higher than Step-Stan. "Hi Uncle Steve. Danno and I are going to the Mall to do the last of our Christmas shopping. Would you like to come? We might even stop for hot chocolate….Mmm hmm…one second. Danno, what time will we be there at?"

Danny looked at his watch figuring out between traffic etc. that it would be another half hour before they were at the mall.

"Here, just give me the phone…Steve are you sure you want to come shopping again, you know what happened that last time you came shopping with Gracie…mmm hmm… no I know that…look we'll swing by your place in about a half hour…no you can't drive…two casts, remember. Alright pal, see you shortly." He handed the phone back to Grace.

"And you said he wouldn't want to come shopping." Shaking her head Grace continued eating the last of her pancakes.

Danny just chuckled. Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, Navy SEAL badass, could not say no to his honorary niece. She didn't even have to turn on the charm anymore. It was unbelievable.

Thirty five minutes later they pulled into Steve's drive, "You are late," he called from the front door looking at his watch.

"Don't start on me Steven," came the clipped reply.

The two Williams and the Commander spent a nice afternoon wandering around the mall. They finished their own Christmas shopping quickly so they could just relax and enjoy looking at all the Christmas lights and listening to the music playing throughout the mall.

Back at the Camaro, Grace had already got into the back seat, when Danny stopped Steve from getting in. "Rachel wants to talk to me when I drop Gracie home, eh, would you mind coming along for the ride. I think she wants to change the Christmas plans and I, eh…I may need you to talk me off the ledge."

"Not a problem Danny, I'm there for you buddy."

"Thanks."

Pulling up at the Edwards mansion, Danny turned to Steve, "Hopefully I won't be long, I just want to get this over with. I can't believe she's not going to let me see my own daughter Christmas Eve."

Steve looked startled, "You don't know what she wants you for, don't jump the gun."

Ten minutes later the front door opened and Danny all but skipped down the drive to his waiting partner.

"Well?" Steve said looking at the goofy grin on Danny.

"Not what I was expecting," Danny admitted. "Rachel's cousin back in England has moved up the date of her wedding because her father is quite ill and she wants him there for her big day. And Rachel is one of the bridesmaids. It's only going to be a quiet affair so Rachel decided that rather than dragging Grace with her, she could stay here with me and just Step-Stan and Charlie will travel with her. I have my Monkey for three whole weeks…all to myself." Danny was beaming by this stage.

"That's fantastic news Danny. I'm delighted for you. You deserve it."

"They are leaving the day after tomorrow. It's an evening flight to Atlanta and then a stopover there and then another overnight flight to London. I have to pick up Grace at 3pm. I have so much to organise," Danny said in a rush.

The next two days were hectic for Danny as he raced around trying to get everything done before he had to pick up Grace. He also had paper work to do for his job, but he didn't even mind. It was strange but even the criminals seemed too busy to commit any crimes.

At 2:55 pm on Tuesday, Danny parked outside Step-Stan's mansion and walked up to the door. He heard the squeal from instead as Grace bolted to the door. She ran back and hugged and kissed her mother good bye and then leaned down to her little brother and kissed him too. She then grabbed her school bag and her travel bag and pulled open the door as she saw her father just about to knock.

"Danno!"

"Hey Monkey, you ready to have some fun?" he asked. Turning to his ex-wife he mouthed "Thank you."

"Yup ready, willing and able," Grace replied in a very official voice.

"Well let's go."

After dropping Grace to school the next morning, Danny headed to HQ. He had offered to pick Steve up but he was adamant that he was fine to drive.

Danny was sitting in his office at 10a.m. when his cell phone rang. Steve could see the instant everything changed and he sauntered over and loitered close to the door until Danny waved him to come on in.

"But sir, it's a ten hour flight and it's Christmas next week…how long?...uh huh…uh huh…well if you're sure I'll be back…yes sir I understand…yes it's just arrived…ok well I'll see you in the morning."

Slamming down his phone, Danny laid his head on the desk.

"What's up? Who are you going to see in the morning? What's just arrived? How long?"

"Geez Steven, take a breath," Danny said with a slight smirk as he lifted his head off the desk.

"What's going on Danny?"

"That was my old boss back in Jersey. Seems they have finally tracked down this no good, scum sucking, evil bastard that went on a killing spree just before I transferred here and they need me to give evidence against him…tomorrow afternoon…back in Jersey."

"You're kidding me. Why? Can't they do a video link or something?"

"No, seems that the judge has said I've got to be in his court room by 3pm or no dice!"

"So when will you get to come back?"

"I just don't know. If it goes long tomorrow, they want me to stay over till Friday. Look I hate to do this but could Gracie, maybe, stay with you till I get back?"

"Sure thing Danno, but maybe she'd be better staying at a friend's house. I mean I've minded her before but that was only for a few hours, this would be a few days," Steve said feeling very unsure of himself.

"Hey, if it's an inconvenience," Danny started to shrug.

"No Danny, that's not what I mean. I, eh, I just think she'd probably have more fun with one of her friends; rather than hanging out with "old" Uncle Steve with the two broken wrists."

"You can be so thick sometimes, you know that? She will be so happy when she finds out. She's always going on about staying over in your house and how cool her Uncle Steve is. Babe, she loves you so much. I get the feeling sometimes that she'd sell her own mother and me as well just to stay at your place, with the beach right outside and Bestest Navy SEAL there ever was to hang out with. Her words, not mine."

Steve looked embarrassed by all his partner had just said. "Well, if you think she'll be ok."

"Brilliant, that's settled. If it's ok with you I better go get sorted out. I've a few things to get. I think I'll go collect Grace from school early and then go get some groceries. I doubt if you are anyway stocked up at home."

"Excuse me, what's that supposed to mean," Steve asked indignantly.

"Hey correct me if I'm wrong but you haven't had a ten year old girl stay over recently have you? No? Well then there are certain things that Grace is accustomed to, so I shall go buy some bits and pieces so that it limits the amount of time you spend on the road with those two damn casts," Danny said once again with a slight smirk.

"Do you need me to do anything?" asked Steve.

"Nope, I'll sort everything. I just hope that the island criminals take a long, well-earned break and stay quiet for the next week."

"Amen to that brah," Steve said as he slapped his hand on Danny's shoulder.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Several hours later, at home, Steve was roused from his reverie by the sound of Grace and her father walking through the front door.

"Uncle Steve, I coming to stay with you for a few days cos Danno has to go back to Jersey and put a really bad guy in jail," Grace called as she walked straight past him into the kitchen with a bag of groceries in one hand and her own travel bag in the other.

Passing by him again, she was still chatting away; really not bothered that no-one was answering her.

Steve stood watching her, with a lob sided grin plasters on his face.

"Apple doesn't fall far, Danno," he laughed as Danny walked into the front room and watched his daughter chat away to no one in particular.

Within the hour, Danny had all the bags emptied and was saying good bye to his daughter. He decided that he would drive himself to the airport so that he wouldn't have to wait around when he got back from Jersey.

"Ok Monkey, time for Danno to go," he called into the dining room where Grace had her homework spread out on the table.

"I'm going to miss you Danno. You won't be gone too long, will you?"

"Ah I'll miss you too. Hopefully I'll be on a flight back by Saturday at the latest and we'll still have two weeks before your mom comes hope. Now be extra good for Uncle Steve and do everything he tells you. Make sure you help him if he needs anything done ok? Danno loves you," said Danny as he swept Grace up into a hug.

"Please be good and be careful," Danny said as he walked out the door.

"Don't worry Danny, of course she'll be good," Steve said, a little mystified as to why Danny would even need to remind his daughter to be good.

"I wasn't talking to her," came the smart answer.

"Get outta here. The sooner you get going the sooner you'll get back," answered Steve. "And be sure to keep me in the loop, ok pal?"

"Will do Superman."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Arriving in Jersey at 7am Thursday morning, Danny was taken straight to the precinct to be brought up to speed on the case. He spent several hours there with his former captain and some of the other officers and detectives involved in the case. Then at 2pm they headed to the court house.

Unfortunately, Danny wasn't called to the stand that day and was ordered to return the following morning. Friday pretty much went the same. He had a flight booked from Newark leaving Saturday morning at 10 am to arrive back in Honolulu international at 3pm local time.

However, the judge was not yet finished with Danny and a police officer arrived at his hotel room at 7am while he was packing to head back to his daughter. He was once again ordered to return to the court at 9am. There was no way he was going to make his flight.

Forgetting about the time difference he dialled his partner's number to let him know that he wasn't going to make it back to Oahu that day and was looking into flights returning on Sunday.

"_McGarrett,"_ Steve croaked into the phone.

"Hey Steve, what are you doing still asleep. It's 7:10 in the morning!"

Clearing his throat a little and looking at the clock on his night stand, he couldn't help but smirk, "_It's 2:10 here Daniel…different time zone…remember." _

Danny palmed his forehead, not too gently, "oops, sorry man, totally forgot. How's Gracie?"

"_She's fine, missing her Danno, but I'm keeping her occupied. Might bring her to the range later."_

Steve was met with silence at the other end of the phone line but could just picture his friend's face as it reddened up to start an epic rant.

"Steven J McGarrett, I…you better not…I swear…" Danny started, and then heard the laughter down the phone. "I hate you, you know that don't you.

"_You didn't just call to tell me that, you could have waited till this afternoon for that."_

"Yeah about that, I'm not gonna make it back today. Got called back again this morning for one finally meeting with the judge. Clearly he doesn't have any kids," Danny added in a mutter.

"_Ah man, I'm sorry. Don't worry about Grace, she'd fine here. You just get sorted there and come home as soon as you can. Ok pal?"_

"Will do my best. Tell Grace, Danno loves her. Sorry I woke you up, go back to sleep, sweet dreams," he chuckled.

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah talk to you later,"_ Steve answered and put the phone back on the night stand and fell straight back to sleep.

Once again the gods did not smile on Daniel Williams. No matter what airline he tried he couldn't get on a flight back to Oahu from Newark before Christmas Day. So in the end he had to settle with a flight to Atlanta Saturday evening, stay there over night, then another flight to LA where he would just have to go on standby with the hope of getting a flight to Honolulu before Tuesday.

Once he reached the airport, he put a call through to Steve.

"Hey, how's Grace?" he said as soon as he heard his partners voice.

"_Hey. She's good, still missing you. She's watching a movie at the moment. What's happening?"_

"I'm just heading to the boarding gate now, flying to Atlanta tonight, then on to LA tomorrow and then just wait and see. Give Gracie a hug and kiss for me. I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Did you just say home?" Steve grinned.

"Yeah yeah…shut up. See you soon," Danny retorted.

**To be continued…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii 5-0 or any of the characters.**

**A/N 1: I hope this next chapter gives you a warm fluffy feeling, like being wrapped in your favourite fleece blanket, sitting by the fire, drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows and sweet cream. **

**A/N 2: Thanks again to all of you who have taken the time to review, follow and favour.**

**A/N 3: This chapter is dedicated to all my readers here in the real world that pester and harass me for updates – Anne-Marie, Jayne, Dad, Cristiona, Conor and my newest reader Carrie. You are all nuts but I still love ye!**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Monday Night**

In LA, Danny stayed close to the check in desks for both Hawaiian Airways and Delta in the hope of getting a standby seat but was having no luck. Why did everyone suddenly decide that they wanted to go to Honolulu, why was no-one going to Vale or Vermont?

He waited around for a full twenty four hours, only ever wandering down to the rest-room or the little café on the concourse. He was really getting desperate but tried to remain calm. He walked up to the check in desk again to ask was there any hope of a seat.

"I'm sorry sir, but it really doesn't look likely. There are a lot of tourists heading to the Hawaiian Islands to spend Christmas. If anything comes up, I promise I will call you."

"Thank you," Danny muttered dejectedly.

He went back over to sit down by his little travel bag, lowering his head and leaving out an audible sigh.

Taking out his cell phone, he pressed his speed dial.

"_Hey Danny, what's the good word? Are you sorted?"_

Danny gave a sad smile, "No luck here, no flights available…not one cancellation."

"_What can I say, everyone wants to be in Hawaii for the Holidays," _Steve remarked jovially.

"Yeah I know, me included but I don't want to be there for the sun, sea and pineapples, I just want to be there with my daughter on Christmas Eve but it just doesn't look like it's gonna happen. Hey is she there?" Danny said sadly

"_Sorry Danno, she went off to bed there a little while ago. We spent the day in the water and she was wiped out. I wish I could do something to help man. I really do." _ Steve felt so sorry for his friend, he idolised Grace and must be heartbroken not being able to get back to her. After just aiding in putting such an evil man behind bars, why was he being punished?

"Here I'll let you go, it's late here, I'm gonna try to get forty winks. Good night Steven," Danny said and hung up.

"_Good Night Daniel,"_ Steve said to the silence at the other end of the phone.

Danny had not noticed the older couple that had been standing close by at a small independent airline check in desk. The lady was studying Danny, trying to place him. In a population of 317 million people, it was not every day you recognised someone waiting in an airport. She had heard part of the conversation he had on the phone but wasn't sure where he was trying to go but knew that his daughter was there. Having a large family herself she knew the importance of being with them around the holidays. She had seen him over at the Delta desk a few minutes ago and decided to enquire. Nobody should look so sad this close to Christmas.

"Excuse me miss, I know you may not be able to tell me, but I was just wondering, where is that young man trying to get to?"

The airline employee looked up, for an instant she was just going to dismiss the older lady but for some reason she thought that this person just might be able to help Detective Williams. She had no idea why but she felt she could trust her.

"Detective Williams is trying to get back to Honolulu for Christmas Eve but he missed his flight from Newark due to some court case and now there are no more available flights until Thursday. I have tried everything, all of us have," she said as she waved a hand over to the other desks.

"Detective Williams you say. Hmm. Honolulu? Wait a second, I know who he is. He's on the Governor of Hawaii's Task Force. They have done some amazing things for the islands," the older lady said as she once again looked at Danny.

"You know I might just be able to help him out."

The girl behind the desk beamed, "Really? But how, all the flights are fully booked."

"Well, I'll have to talk to my husband and son, but we have chartered a small plane to bring us out to Oahu. By the time we'd have all our tickets and luggage booked on a flight it was the same or a little less to go with a small private company. There are seven of us on the flight and a ridiculous amount of luggage. I think we just may have room for one more. "

"That would be awesome. I'm usually not too bothered about standby passengers but I have really taken a shine to him. It would be wonderful if he could get home to his daughter before Santa."

Twenty minutes later Danny sent a very short text.

_Think I've met an angel. CU soon._

**Christmas Eve**

"Ok Gracie, let's decorate this, eh, tree."

Grace gave Steve a withered look, "this is not a Christmas tree Uncle Steve."

"I'm sorry it's the best I can do, I promised Danny that I wouldn't take any unnecessary journeys with you while my wrists are in the casts. So let's just see what we can do. How about some strung popcorn and maybe paper chains? I think Mary's old craft box is still somewhere upstairs, we can see what else we can make."

So the pair spent a happy after noon hand making decorations. Kernels were popped for the popcorn strings…then more kernels were popped when the first lot were eaten. Not exactly the decor that Grace would be used to in Step-Stan's mansion but she was delighted with the effect of the popcorn, the glittery streamers and the cut out snowflakes they had hung from every possible space in the living room.

They finally sat down to admire their work. Steve's gaze strayed to the little girl sitting on the couch beside him and saw that moment that she started to miss her Danno.

"Hey Gracie, you did a great job. I could never make this place look so festive. Definitely needed a little girl's eye to bring Christmas back into the McGarrett house," Steve said as he gave Grace a gentle nudge.

"Mmm hmm," she replied. "Danno's not going to get home tonight is he?" she asked quietly.

"Gracie, he'll try his best but you know he missed his flight direct from Newark and was then on standby in LA, it's really out of his control. He didn't want to have to go back to Jersey so close to Christmas. But it was important and by doing it another really bad man is now in jail and can't hurt anyone anymore." Steve didn't want to raise her hopes; he had had one more e-mail after the text last night, something about an angel?! Danny had joined a chartered flight and hoped to be in Honolulu by 9pm that night.

"I know," she sniffed but she still really wanted her Daddy home for Christmas Eve and now it didn't look like he'd be home even for Christmas Day. She couldn't hold it back any more and started to cry softly with large tears running down her face.

Lieutenant Commander Steven J McGarrett could deal with a lot of things, terrorist attacks, high speed car chases, leaping from tall buildings…but what he couldn't handle was a young girl crying because she missed her Daddy.

"Come here Gracie," he said as he stretched out his two cast wrists and gently pulled her onto his knee. "Please don't cry, Danno will do all he can to be here in time but if he can't we'll still have a good time and then we can celebrate Christmas with him when he does arrive. Do you think he'll like the Christmas tree?" Grace looked at the droopy house plant with the popcorn draped around it and some Christmas paper wrapped around the pot. A smile slow spread across her face and eventually lit up her eyes.

"It's really not like Danno's tree but I think he'll know we made an effort. He will so know that you kept your promise and didn't drive," she laughed. "Cos if you did we'd have something a lot better than this sad little thing."

Steve looked hurt but then grinned, "How about we make some s'mores on the BBQ and then watch one of the Christmas DVDs you brought. I think there might be some hot chocolate in the cupboard outside from when Catherine was here last time. It might not be perfect but it will be our own little Christmas Eve."

**Somewhere out over the Pacific**

"I'm sorry sir, but we have just got radio confirmation that we will not be able to land in Honolulu International Airport. There is a problem with the runway lights and with only a handful more flights from the mainland, they are re-directing us to Kona on the Big Island," the co-pilot told Danny.

Danny left his head drop to his chest. This had been his last hope to get home to Gracie in time to spend some part of Christmas Eve with her and then wake up Christmas morning knowing that he still had her for another two weeks. It was the first time since the breakup that he was going to have his daughter with him for the whole holiday period and now it looked like he wouldn't get back to her until at least noon tomorrow. He knew she would be safe with Steve. He was more than a brother to him and would make sure to keep Grace happy and safe. Damn it why did the judge have to call him back on the Saturday morning. What difference did that last conversation make? The man was found guilty and had already been charges. Why was the judge such a Scrooge?

He had checked with the pilot about using internet on his phone and was glad to hear that the small charter plane was equipped with WIFI so he was able to keep in contact with Steve through e-mail. He still could not believe his luck when an older lady walked over and introduced herself, saying she had recognised him from an article in the paper about how this 5-0 team were cleaning up Oahu, the place her daughter and husband had made home. She told him about their chartered flight and offered him the last seat on it. At first he refused but eventually gave in, he would be with his Gracie for Christmas Eve after all. But now his hopes were dashed again.

_Hey buddy, not looking like we're gonna make it. Re-directing to Kona, no flights landing at Honolulu due to problem with lights. Will just have to stay on the Big Island tonight and make arrangements in the a.m. Please tell Gracie that I'm sorry and that Danno loves her._

He hit send. He had to give himself a little shake. He was a detective on the Governor's special task force for God sake. He had just helped put away a cold blooded killer back in New Jersey and here he was sitting in a small passenger plane on the verge of tears.

One of the stewards came along and asked did he want anything to drink, but he just waved her away politely and decided to settle down and try get some sleep. If this rotten luck held out he probably wouldn't find anywhere to spend the night and would end up staying in the pretty much wide open terminal of Kona airport.

He again thought of his little angel and hoped she wouldn't be too upset; after all it was an adventure to stay over at Uncle Steve's without her Danno. Oh God he hoped that she was alright. He had made Steve promise that unless it was an absolute emergency that he would not drive anywhere. Danny had made sure that the house was well stocked with groceries before he left for the airport to fly back east for the court case.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

After finishing their movie, eating a plate of s'mores and drinking a pitcher of hot chocolate, Steve stood and walked to the sliding doors leading out to the lanai.

"Hey Gracie, come here for a minute, I want to show you something," pointing up into the night sky. "See that big star up there, that's the North Star, here in Hawaii it's called Hoku-pa'a, which means the immovable start. I used to love making wishes on that star."

The moment he had said it, he realised his mistake, as Grace's eyes lit up and she looked up at the beautiful star, then closed her eyes tight and wished with all her might.

Looking up at the bright star now, Steve was transported back to a time when he was a young boy. When he had finished helping his mother clear the table after supper he would go down and join his father at the water's edge. He would look up and see the North Star. John McGarrett would say every night that no matter where any of the family ever were they could always look up into the night sky, find that star and know that either earlier in the day or a few hours later the rest of the family would be looking up at the same bright star. Steve always remembered that and when, after his mother had supposedly been killed in a road accident and he was sent away to the mainland, he would always look upon that star and know that his dad would be doing the same in a few hours' time and he would wish John McGarrett a good night on the brilliant star.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

Danny looked out the side window of the plane as he noticed that they were starting their descent, it would be another while before the Big Island was in view but for the first time since moving to these God forsaken islands out in the middle of the ocean he felt that he was coming home. He had finally found a little house to settle down in, he had a job he loved so much, he was close to his daughter, though it wasn't ideal but it was a lot better than living at the other side of the continent only seeing her maybe once a year if he was lucky. He had work colleagues that were there for him through thick and thin and he had his partner, which he had no doubt would lay down his life for him and Danny felt the exact same way. Looking into the darkening night sky, a shining star caught his eye and he remembered Steve telling him about how he used to look at it every evening and think of his father and sister and hope they were doing the same thing. What was is it called it – Hokie Pokie, no that wasn't right. Well whatever it was, he wished his little monkey, his little Gracie good night on it now.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

Looking at his watch he turned to the girl sitting beside him, "Ok Grace, think it's time you headed for a shower and then bed."

"But we haven't made cookies for Santa yet?" she said with a hint of concern.

"Ah Grace I don't have any cookies, I don't think I have anything to even make cookies with," he said absently as he ran a mental check of his shelves.

"It's ok, Danno bought a pack of Tollhouse Choc Chip cookie dough, he put it in the cupboard with the granola," answered Grace happily as she walked out to the kitchen.

Steve untangled himself from the blanket that Grace had decided they must cuddle under while watching some TV. He followed Grace out to the kitchen shaking his head, that man thinks of everything, he grinned.

Preheating the oven, Steve took out a baking tray and Grace proceeded to break up the cookie dough.

"Right miss, these will take twenty minutes, so that's just enough to get a shower and get into your pyjamas."

"Ok Uncle Steve," giving him a quick impromptu hug and ran out the door. She had been sleeping in Mary's old room for the last few nights.

He heard the squeal from the bedroom as he guessed Grace had found the new pyjamas that Danno had left, just in case he couldn't make it back for Christmas Eve. Yup that man thought of everything!

Steve's phone beeped and he saw an e-mail from his partner. Seeing that the flight was diverted he thought for a few moments, then smiled to himself as he made a phone call; then e-mailed Danny back.

_Hey there, don't panic yet. We might get you back in time. Hopefully if everything works out, there'll be a surprise waiting for you in Kona._

Grace came back down the stairs in no time in her new night wear with her damp hair flying behind her.

"Are the cookies ready, Uncle Steve? We can have one each before bed and leave two out for Santa with a glass of milk. We can have some more tomorrow but you need to make sure there are some left for Danno too, not like with the cupcakes we made."

"Ah man, once I ate the last cupcake that was for Danno, are you ever going to let me live that down?"

"No!" she giggled back.

"Is that so," Steve said as he grabbed up his honorary niece and tickled her.

Ten minutes later they had two cookies and milk ready for Santa, another plate with two cookies and a note that read "For Danno!" And they carried yet another plate with two cookies and a glass of milk each into the front room.

Finishing their cookies and emptying their glasses, Steve stood up, "Ok Grace I really think it's time for bed. I want you to go up and finish drying your hair, wash your teeth and I'll be up in a few minutes to tuck you in, ok?"

Grace nodded and walked slowly up the stairs. She had finally given up hope that her Danno would make it home before midnight. It was nearly eleven o'clock now.

Steve gathered the glasses and plate and brought them out to the kitchen. He locked up, turned off the lights, set the alarm and walked up stairs. Looking into Mary's room he found Grace already cuddled down under the blankets. He couldn't be sure that she was still awake but had his suspicions. He pulled the blankets up around her and then leaned down and kissed her gently on the top of the head.

"Good night Grace, sweet dreams and remember Danno loves you," he whispered, then backed out of the room.

He went into his en suite, quickly wrapped his two casts, had a hurried shower and brushed his own teeth; dressed in a red tartan lounge pants and grey t-shirt (thanks Danny) he found that he bed was not empty. Grace must have snuck in while he was in the bathroom.

Walking over to the bed, he saw two little sad eyes looking at him.

"Grace, is everything alright?"

"No, I miss my Daddy. I always slept in the bed with Mom and Danno on Christmas Eve in Jersey and even here I slept in with Danno or Mommy. Can I sleep in here with you tonight?" she said as she turned her big puppy dog eyes at her Uncle Steve.

"Well, um, ok. If that's what you want," Steve replied a little awkwardly.

Steve climbed in beside her and smiled. God, how lucky was Danny to have such a wonderful daughter. Instantly she snuggled down under the duvet and was asleep in minutes. She didn't even stir when a single beep came from Steve's phone, nor did she notice when he climbed back out of the bed and tip toed out of the room. Two minutes later Steve came back into the room.

"Grace. Gracie, wake up. I think I heard something down stairs, will we go look and see is it Santa?"

"Mmm, ok," came the very sleepy reply.

Barely awake, Grace got back out of bed, but started to sway on her feet. Steve swept her up into his strong arms.

"No, no Uncle Steve, you'll hurt yourself," Grace said with little conviction.

"Hey I'm SuperSEAL; a little thing like you can't hurt me. Now be quiet so we can sneak down and see if it is Santa."

Padding across the landing and down the stairs with his precious bundle, Steve was nearly vibrating with excitement. She had cuddled into his arms and was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Look over there by the tree," he whispered into the hair of his best friend's daughter.

She looked around and saw a man bent down, laying a gift under the decorated house plant. He was wearing a red coat, with white fur and a red hood.

Wriggling down from her Uncle's arms she stood and almost silently whispered, "Santa?"

The figure kneeling stood at the sound and looked around.

"DANNO!" Grace screamed as she launched herself across the room at her Daddy.

She ran into his open arms and he picked her up, swirling her around between hugging her and kissing her. Eventually, he sat down on the couch, still holding his daughter in a bear hug. He looked over at his partner who had remained leaning on the bannister at the end of the stairs.

"Thank you," he mouthed to him over his daughter's head.

With that the little carriage clock in Steve's fathers study chimed twelve bells.

"Danno, my wish came true. I wished on the Hoku-pa'a that you would come home before Christmas Eve was over and you did," Grace said as she buried herself into another hug with her father.

"Well I nearly didn't make it Monkey. Only for Uncle Steve I wouldn't have got here till tomorrow."

"What did you do Uncle Steve; you didn't even know what my wish was?"

"Well SuperSEAL rang Kamekona and got him to take out his helicopter and fly to Kona and wait for me. So when the plane landed, I could see the black chopper, with "Shrimpman's" face on the side and Kamekona was waiting to bring me back to Honolulu. So you'll have to thank him too, the next time you see him."

"Maybe we should give him one of our cookies," Grace mused looking over at Steve who still hadn't moved from the bannister.

Laying Grace down, Danny walked over and held out his arms, "Hey come 'ere big guy. I owe you a lot."

Steve stood into the hug, happy that his friend had made it home for Christmas with his daughter.

"No problem bud, I'm glad you got home in time."

Grace appeared beside her dad, with the cookies they had kept for him.

"I see you had to label it Monkey, was Uncle Steve gonna eat it?"

"Once Daniel, I did it once!" Steve exclaimed.

"I know Steven!"

"Um Danny, you're not planning on heading back to your place tonight are you? I mean you both would fit in Mary's bed and then you wouldn't have to travel back here for breakfast in the morning," Steve started to rationalise.

Looking around the room, then catching his daughter's eye and winking at her Danny replied, "Hmm, well seeing as you have decorated the place for Christmas and you have baked cookies for Santa and you are wearing the PJ's I bought you.."

Steve interrupted, "they're lounge pants, not pyjamas!"

"You keep telling yourself that Rambo. Anyway seeing how the place looks so festive, I guess we could stay here tonight. What do you think Monkey?" once again swinging his daughter up into his arms.

"Definitely. It will be like waking up on Christmas morning two dads," Grace announced with glee.

"No no sweetie, not two dads, never two dads, just one dad and one very cool uncle. Ok Gracie?" Steve corrected before Danny could even react.

"Yeah what Uncle Steve said, leaving out the cool bit," Danny joked. "I'm just so happy to be home," he added as he gave his daughter another squeeze and laying her down, gave his best friend a dazzling smile.

"Home?" Steve enquired.

"Yeah home!" replied Danny.

"Merry Christmas Danno," Steve said laid his arm around his _brother's _shoulder.

Turning it into a full hug Danny replied, "Hey Steve, Mele Kalikimaka!"


End file.
